Locals plan 'Boston Strong' run in Lake Placid

April 18, 2013

LAKE PLACID - Local runners will show their support for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings with a tribute run around Mirror Lake this coming Monday.

Lake Placid resident Greg Borzilleri is organizing the "Boston Strong LP" tribute run. He said he came up with the idea after seeing a Facebook link to the blog Pavement Runner, which encourages runners across the country to organize tribute runs in their communities on the one-week anniversary of the bombings. The website listed nearly 40 runs planned in locations all across the country as of Thursday.

"I'm a race director for Ironman Lake Placid, and when I see stuff like what happened it Boston, it hits me pretty hard," Borzilleri said. "We have empathy being that we're an event town, and Boston's a big event place, and I just want to be able to show some support. The main thing is we want to pay tribute to the victims, but also to the first responders and to the city of Boston."

Borzilleri said he's working to coordinate the event with the village of Lake Placid, the town of North Elba, state police, village police, the state Olympic Regional Development Authority and the Lake Placid Convention and Visitors Bureau. He also has sponsorships from some local businesses.

"It's amazing how much support you can get when it's for something like this," Borzilleri said. "It hasn't even been 24 hours since I first posted it on pavementrunner.com."

The "Boston Strong LP" run will begin at 6 p.m. Monday near the village beach on Mirror Lake and follow Mirror Lake Drive and Main Street around the lake, ending in front of the Conference Center at Lake Placid. There's no charge, but donations will be accepted for The One Fund Boston Inc., a charity set up by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino to assist bombing victims.

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Borzilleri also said he'll sell "Boston Strong LP" T-shirts, with all the proceeds going to the same cause.

It's being called a tribute run, but it's also open to walkers or people with dogs and strollers. Borzilleri said the first half-mile will be run in silence as a tribute to the victims of the bombings.